It has been reported that fashion and homeware retailer Next has seen a drop of 1.5% in its first half profits, prompting a possible price increase next year and mirroring a similar statement from fellow fashion retailer FatFace.

Figures show that profit dropped £342.1 million in the six months to July, however revenue rose 2.6% to £1.96 billion in the period, whilst directory sales increased 7.1% to £821.2 million and retail sales showing a slight increase of 0.1% to £1.9 billion.

In a statement, Next said: “In March we predicted a challenging year and this has been reflected in our first half results. Although total Next brand sales were 3.0% ahead of last year, full price sales were down 0.3% on a comparable week basis.”

Adding: “As expected, it has been a challenging year so far, with economic and cyclical factors working against us, and it looks set to remain that way until mid-October at the earliest. We remain clear about where we need to focus our energies and continue to work on the priorities we set out at the beginning of the year.”